What the CHOOSE Act ESA is, how much it is worth, what it covers, and how spending works.
CHOOSE Act Alabama is a state program that gives eligible Alabama families an education savings account (ESA) to pay for K-12 education expenses. Its full name is the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students’ Education Act of 2024.
The Alabama Department of Revenue (ALDOR) administers the program. An ESA is a refundable income tax credit: the state deposits the money into a digital wallet you spend through ClassWallet, the company ALDOR contracts with to coordinate payments to participating families.
Related: CHOOSE Act parent guide | Getting started with the ESA
An ESA is worth $7,000 for a participating student enrolled in a participating school, or $2,000 for a participating student in a home education program. Home education ESAs are capped at $4,000 per family.
A home education program can be an individual or group program, a homeschool co-op, or similar. The $4,000 family cap applies only to home education ESAs — see the schools and homeschool questions for how the cap works when you have several homeschool students.
Related: CHOOSE Act parent guide | Schools and homeschool questions
ESA funds cover a wide range of approved K-12 education expenses, so you can match spending to your student’s learning needs. Approved expenses include:
Not every purchase qualifies, and an invoice that includes even one ineligible item can be rejected. Check a specific item before you buy it.
Related: Search the Expense Explorer | What you can buy with ESA funds
There is no reimbursement of any educational expense to families. Every purchase and payment made with ESA funds must go through the ClassWallet platform.
You do not pay out of pocket and claim the money back later. Instead, you spend directly from your student’s ClassWallet digital wallet — either through the ClassWallet marketplace or by paying an approved provider directly.
Related: Why marketplace prices differ | CHOOSE Act parent guide
No. You do not report CHOOSE Act ESA funds on your state or federal tax return, and the funds do not change the amount of tax you owe.
Although the ESA is technically a refundable income tax credit, the funds your student receives are not treated as reportable income to your family.
Who qualifies for an ESA — income limits, grade and age rules, household size, special needs, and priority status.
To be eligible for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years, a student must be in grades K-12 and:
Check the current Federal Poverty Level guideline chart on the CHOOSE Act website for the income limit that applies to your household size.
Priority status: the first 500 ESAs are reserved for students with special needs. Priority also goes to participating students, their siblings, and dependents of active-duty service members who are enrolled in or assigned to a priority school — a public K-12 school graded "D" or "F" on its most recent Alabama Department of Education report card. Priority improves your award tier; it is not required to receive an ESA.
To be eligible as a kindergartener, the student must turn 5 by September 1 of the start of the academic year.
Related: CHOOSE Act parent guide | How to apply
A student must turn 5 by September 1 of the year the academic year starts to be eligible to apply for kindergarten.
Example 1: a student starts kindergarten on August 15, 2026 and turns 5 on August 26, 2026. The student is within the approved age range and is eligible to apply.
Example 2: a student starts kindergarten on August 15, 2026 and turns 5 on September 2, 2026. The student is outside the approved age range and is not eligible to apply.
Yes. Every eligible student — including students with special needs — must be an Alabama resident and live in a household at or below 300% of the federal poverty level for the tax year.
Special needs status affects priority, not the income limit. The first 500 ESAs are reserved for students with special needs, but the household income requirement still applies to every applicant.
Yes. Anyone you claim as a dependent on your income tax return counts in your number of "Persons in Family/Household," regardless of their age — including a dependent away at college.
Household size is the number of people — primary filers and dependents — listed on the tax return you submit.
Example: your return shows Married Filing Jointly with two dependents, so your household size is calculated as four. If you have extenuating circumstances, you may provide supplemental documentation to verify household size.
Yes. Priority categories are not a requirement to receive an ESA. They simply place your application in a higher award approval tier.
A student who does not qualify for any priority is still eligible and can still be awarded an ESA.
Yes. A student whose parent is employed by an education service provider can be awarded an ESA, as long as that parent is not the sole employee of the provider.
How to apply, which documents and tax return to submit, and how ESAs are prioritized, awarded, and appealed.
Apply at chooseact.alabama.gov, where the application link is posted during the application period. You will be asked to provide:
During the application you confirm which school your student will attend, or indicate that you will educate your student through a home education program.
If your student has special needs, you provide a recent copy of the student’s IEP, Individualized Service Plan (ISP), or 504 Plan. Active-duty military members attest that the student is enrolled in or assigned to a priority school and provide a military-issued ID or military orders. Check the current Family Application Timeline on chooseact.alabama.gov for application and award deadlines.
Related: CHOOSE Act parent guide | Getting started with the ESA | Application timeline
The parent or guardian who claims the student as a dependent on their income tax return should apply for the student’s ESA.
If there are extenuating circumstances, dependency status can be verified with legal documents such as a court order, divorce decree, or guardianship document.
Submit the most recently filed tax return you have available.
Example: for the 2026-2027 academic year application, you can submit either your 2024 or your 2025 tax return.
Yes. On the application you can select a participating school you are considering. But when your award is made, you must select a participating school, and the school on your application must match your enrollment document.
ALDOR verifies your student’s enrollment at that school before awarding the ESA.
No. ESAs are not awarded first-come, first-served. The application period runs for a set window starting January 2 each year — check the program website for the deadline.
After the window closes, every application received during the period is organized by the eligibility requirements and priority status, then awarded based on a percentage of the 300% federal poverty level.
The first 500 ESAs are reserved for students with special needs.
After that, priority goes to participating students and their siblings, and to students who are dependents of active-duty service members enrolled in or assigned to a priority school.
Priority places an application in a higher award tier; it does not, by itself, guarantee or deny an award.
A parent, participating student, education service provider, or other CHOOSE Act tax credit recipient can ask ALDOR to reconsider a decision. There are two steps.
Step 1 — Request for Reconsideration: email [email protected] with a brief summary of your request and your family CHOOSE Act application number, name, and contact information. ALDOR reviews the request and emails you a final decision.
Step 2 — Final Appeal: available after Step 1 is complete. If you disagree with ALDOR’s final reconsideration decision, ALDOR provides the information to appeal to the Alabama Tax Tribunal.
When funds arrive, where to find approved schools and providers, deadlines, and what happens to leftover funds.
ESA funds are deposited into your student’s digital wallet beginning July 1 of the academic year.
Your deposit also depends on enrollment verification being on file — see the enrollment verification deadline question for how a late upload changes your funding date.
Related: Application timeline
ALDOR posts lists of approved Participating Schools and Education Service Providers on the program website. Every school and provider on those lists has been approved by ALDOR to take part in the program.
If your preferred school or provider is not on either list, encourage them to complete an Education Service Provider (ESP) application on the program website. ESPs are added as they are approved throughout the year.
You can also search CHOOSEActAL’s directory of approved providers and participating schools by category, location, and keyword.
Related: Browse providers | Browse schools | How to choose a provider
Your family is responsible for any educational costs above your ESA balance.
The ESA covers approved expenses up to the funds available in your student’s wallet. Anything beyond that balance is paid by your family.
Yes. ESA funds must be used within the academic year — between July 1 and June 30 — in which they are awarded.
Funds do not roll over to the next academic year. Any unused ESA funds are returned to the state’s CHOOSE Act Fund.
To receive CHOOSE Act funds on or around July 1, your student’s proof of enrollment at a participating school must be uploaded to the family application in FACTS by June 30.
If enrollment verification is received after June 30, the student’s ESA is funded at the beginning of the month following approval of the proof of enrollment document. Upload all required documents as early as possible to avoid delaying your funds.
No. CHOOSE Act funds awarded for one academic year can only pay for tuition, fees, and other educational expenses that belong to that same academic year.
You cannot apply leftover funds to a future year’s enrollment or registration fees. Unused funds are returned to the state’s CHOOSE Act Fund.
Using an ESA in public, private, or home education — including service plans and how homeschool awards are split.
Yes — if the public school is a participating school and charges tuition for the student.
Check the current list of participating schools to confirm whether a specific public school takes part.
Related: Browse participating schools
Yes. You can choose to educate your student through a home education program and use ESA funds for approved educational expenses, including curriculum.
The home education ESA is $2,000 per participating student, capped at $4,000 per family.
Related: What you can buy with ESA funds
Contact an administrator at the school and ask whether they can create an ISP for your student. You can also reach out to a physician or to your local education or health agencies.
An ISP, IEP, or 504 Plan documents a student’s special needs as part of the application.
A home education ESA is $2,000 per participating student, capped at $4,000 per family — so a family with four homeschool students still receives a total of $4,000.
If one student has special needs, that student is assigned first as an ESA recipient on the family ClassWallet dashboard. The next award goes to the oldest student. This lets younger siblings move into the program as the older ones age out.
Only two of the four students’ names are assigned the award, but all eligible students in the family are listed in the family’s ClassWallet account.
Yes. All eligible students approved for the program appear in your family’s ClassWallet digital wallet, and you can use CHOOSE Act funds for any of them.
Only two student accounts show funds, and each of those purses shows the $2,000 maximum. The total home education award is still capped at $4,000 per family, but the funds can be spent on qualifying expenses for any eligible student in the family.
Switching schools, the AAA scholarship conflict, a suspended purse, and changing your ESA selection.
No, the student does not have to reapply.
If a student transfers to another participating school during the same academic year and the original school allows tuition to be refunded, the unused ESA funds return to the student’s ESA account and can be used at the new participating school.
Notify FACTS at 855-828-0754 of your student’s new school enrollment.
A parent can apply for both the Alabama Accountability Act (AAA) scholarship and a CHOOSE Act ESA, but a student can only receive funds from one program. You must decide, at the time the ESA is awarded, whether to accept the AAA scholarship or the CHOOSE Act ESA — not both.
A parent can, however, accept an AAA scholarship for one student and a CHOOSE Act ESA for another student in the same family.
A student’s purse can be suspended for several reasons, including the following:
Related: Appeal rights
For the 2026-2027 academic year, you can change your CHOOSE Act ESA selection between home education and a participating school up until June 30, 2026.
If the change increases your ESA amount — for example, moving from a $2,000 home education ESA to a $7,000 participating school ESA — the credit is increased contingent on program fund availability.
Beginning with the 2027-2028 academic year, you cannot change your ESA selection after the application deadline closes.